Biomutant is a full-blown RPG, with an original presentation of a semi post-apocalyptic world. I had the pleasure of playing through the game before its release, and in this Biomutant Review, I will present all of my thoughts on this charming adventure. The game was developed by Experiment 101, and published by THQ Nordic.
Biomutant Review
Story of Biomutant [SPOILER FREE]
First of all, let me tell you some things about the story, but I will not go into detail in order to avoid possibly spoiling the game. I want this Biomutant Review to be completely spoiler-free.
At the start of your journey, you will create your own character with its own personality traits, skills, and attributes. Everything you choose will alter the appearance of your character. The world of Biomutant is very vibrant and colorful. Our story is mostly narrated, and the characters we talk about talk gibberish.
Our main task is to unite tribes living in the world and save the world from damnation. However, right at the beginning, you will be able to choose your own path, literally and figuratively. Your choices throughout the game will allow you to shape the type of hero (or anti-hero) you are. The way that you save the world might vary, similar to the InFamous series, where you could resolve most of the game with a good or bad approach.
Your choices will shape your protagonist, other characters, and the world around you. We can save the world by being a good creature, help others and resolve matters in a moral manner, or we can save it by destroying everything we know, and rebuilding it again from scratch.
These are the bases for the story of the game. You will stumble upon various characters and do various main and side missions, but I will not spoil all of this for you.
Score: 65/100
Credit: THQ Nordic
Gameplay
As mentioned before, you are able to create your own character. Remember that you will be able to change your appearance later, so focus more on the attributes and class of your character, there are 5 of each attribute and 6 different classes. However, you will not be able to change your breed so choose wisely on that.
Attributes:
- Strength
- Vitality
- Agility
- Charisma
- Intellect
Classes:
- Mercenary
- Dead-Eye
- Commando
- Psi-Freak
- Saboteur
- Sentinel
Biomutant is a full-fledged RPG and introduces a lot of skills and attacks to learn. It also has a very extensive crafting system with literally MILLIONS of combinations. For example, a huge weapon might have 4 add-on slots. Many parts are interchangeable like grips, handles, mufflers, etc.
The combat is fast-paced and relies on both melee and ranged combat with a lot of jumping, double jumping, dodging, and combining fighting mechanics with the movement capabilities of our character. You can also find a crafting workbench.
Depending on the class of your choice you might find yourself using more melee or ranged weapons respectively. It had an open world that you can spend hours exploring, looking through abandoned cars, buildings, and other magnificent structures. However, the game can become pretty repetitive after some time, so it's best to dose your experience to shorter sessions with the game.
I stumbled upon some bugs and issues, but I have played the preview version of the game without the day one patch. However, I never had any major issues or game-breaking bugs, so I will give the developers the credit of trust that all the minor bugs will be fixed in the near future.
Score: 68/100
Visual Presentation
The game’s visual presentation is what I love the most about the Biomutant in general. The world looks beautiful, with the vibrant color pallet, and cleverly created creatures. It all fits well together nicely, with some decent fighting effects which give its combat a comic vibe with “slash” or “bang” subtitles floating around after a successful hit.
Post-apocalyptic structures are original and believable, as well as all the weapon models, that look ridiculous in a good way, that fits into the Biomutant universe.
Score: 88/100
Credit: THQ Nordic
Audio Design
The narration which is the main point of the game was done excellent, and I never had bad times listening to it. It is serious when it needs to be, and humorous when it fits the action on the screen. Most of the NPC sounds are gibberish, which is exactly what it is called to be, a bunch of animal nonsense but it fits the entire world.
Weapon sounds and all the ambient sounds are decent, somewhat repetitive, but it never bothered me, and I started noticing some of the similarities after a long time with the game.
Score: 71/100
Biomutant Review Summary
Summing up the Biomutant Review, the game plays similarly to Immortals: Fenyx Rising or Zelda: Breath of the Wild, with some evident influences from Devil May Cry in combat, but adds enough of its own original concepts in terms of the whole presentation ad well as gameplay mechanics to stand out. I had a great time with the game, and it is something that fits perfectly into the concept of relaxing after a hard day’s work. You are able to enjoy the world, the graphics, and even the story, while not getting bored by its fast-paced combat.
We have waited a lot of time for the release of the game, and it's finally here, and I personally think It delivered on what it promised to be. It is not a revolutionary game, but it was never supposed to be one. It is a great game with a lot of original solutions implemented, especially in the world and its anthropomorphic creatures.
Overall Score: 73/100
My Overall Score is an average from all of the previous scores and aspects of the game!
Biomutant is out on May 25th, 2021 on PC, PS4, Xbox One X/S, and Xbox Series X/S, PS5 via backward compatibility with no dedicated versions on new consoles yet.
For some of my lists check out this article about the 5 Best DLCs of the Last 10 Years.